Kipapa/Koolau Summit/Schofield

by Dayle Turner, Pat Rorie, and Pete Caldwell

Pat Rorie (prorie@hekili.k12.hi.us), Dayle Turner (turner@hawaii.edu), and
Pete Caldwell (pekelo@lava.net) collaborated to compose the following
narrative about an epic hike up the Kipapa Trail, north along the Koolau
Summit Trail, and down the Schofield Trail. Enjoy!
At 6:00am on Saturday, June 21, 1997, Pete Caldwell, Dayle Turner,
Don Fox, Gene Robinson, Patrick Rorie and his buddy Laredo gathered at the
parking lot of Anna Miller's in Pearl City for the start of what Gene
would later refer to as "the ultimate day hike." Although the skies were
cloudy and intermittent rain showers pelted the Koolaus, the sixsome
agreed to give their proposed trek a go since it already had been
postponed on an earlier attempt a couple months prior. The group parked
their vehicles at Neil Blaisdell Park and at 6:40 a.m. piled in Gene's
pickup truck bound for the head of the Kipapa Trail near Mililani on
Oahu's central plateau.

After crossing over H-2 on the Pineapple Road overpass, they reached Koa
Ridge Ranch just after 7. Because of prior special permission, they were
granted access through a locked gate. Under ordinary circumstances,
outsiders are prohibited from entering this area.

Driving along Pineapple Road was like a trip back in time and was
reminiscent of the Big Island's Kohala district. Patrick found it hard to
believe such a place exists on populous Oahu. One of the baby horses they
saw as they drove by was only two weeks old!

At 7:17 the men jumped out of Gene's truck, talked briefly with a
wahine caretaker, walked past a fenced-in pack of agitated hunting dogs,
and hiked the short distance to the trailhead, marked with an old wooden
sign stating

"Kipapa Trail D.L.N.R. '32 6 miles"

Dayle took a quick photo of Patrick next to the sign, and the group
moved down the trail at 7:20. The first part of Kipapa follows a
four-wheel drive road past paperbark trees. Don led the way.

Kipapa, by the way, literally translates to "placed prone," a reference to
the slain bodies of invading forces from the Big Island, losers to local
Oahu warriors in a 14th century battle (Pukui, et al, *Place Names of
Hawaii*). Hopefully, the six hikers on this day wouldn't be "placed prone"
after negotiating the long, rough Kipapa Trail.

The men, all donning raingear because of misty weather, reached a
junction at 7:35 and Don inadvertantly went right and down when he should
have headed left. Patrick took the ramrod position since he had been on
this lower section of Kipapa Trail only a few weeks earlier during an
exploratory jaunt.

The group followed the trail through thick strawberry guava, stopping
briefly to enjoy a view spot toward Pearl Harbor and Makakilo at 7:50.
Next they traveled through patches of solid uluhe fern. Further on they
passed an interesting-looking fan palm tree grove and a large Norfolk
island pine at 7:57. They passed another grove of beautiful fan palms at
8:20.

At 8:50 the group took a water break and Pat used the opportunity to put
on his long golf pants in anticipation of the worsening trail conditions
ahead. Dayle commented that "the trail isn't in such bad shape."
However, little did he realize he had sealed the group's fate for the rest
of the trek, for the condition of the trail deteriorated soon afterward.

The next stretch contoured past several landslides and had the men
scrambling, sometimes over the top of fallen trees or under them on their
hands and knees. Negotiating these obstacles slowed their pace.

Continuing through a mixed forest of koa, guava, and uluhe, the
group stopped again at 9:50 to rest. The sun came out as partial clearing
took place. As Pat continued leading the group, the trail all but
disappeared because of uluhe overgrowth.

At 10:05, along a Wahiawa-facing contour section, the men encountered a
massive landslide which obliterated all but a sliver of the trail. The
drop off was steep enough to cause hesitation. Pat thought about
negotiating the precarious sliver but with nothing to hang onto above, he
thought better of the attempt. Meanwhile, Pete began forging a bypass
trail on the uluhe-covered hillside above the landslide and the others,
clinging to whatever trees and roots they could find, followed closely
behind.

As the men moved away from the landslide at approximately 10:20, Gene took
the ramrod position. Scattered Australian tea trees populated the trail
and clouds obscured the ridge top. After passing below a hill topped
by a pair of Norfolk island pines, the six hikers knew they were moving
closer to their first objective--the summit of Kipapa. Next they contoured
around a large hill with a lone Norfolk on top. Thereafter, the men
regained the ridgeline, hiking through a long section of Australian tea.

The skies cleared again and in the distance the group could see the
socked-in Waianae Range and nearby, the upper reaches of Kipapa
Gulch. As they climbed higher, the clouds returned, obscuring the
view of the deep, green valleys below. Another landslide section was
difficult to cross because of large tree branches and slick mud.

Next the group followed the trail along the top of the ridge then
as it contoured on a well defined, freeway-like segment. On the
left and a couple hundred feet below was the head of Kipapa Stream and
mauka of it was a small, beautiful waterfall with an inviting pool at its
base. Patrick marvelled as he watched Gene and Pete hike along the trail
as it contoured and climbed to a point above the falls.

At approximately 12:15 the men stopped for a lunch/rest break at a grassy
landing in a gully just past an intermittent stream that feeds the
waterfall. Recalling their prior hike up Kipapa, Pete and Don noted
that the summit was about 30 minutes away. After the break, the men headed
upward on five switchbacks. During the ascent, Pat and Gene noticed a
beautiful grove of loulu across the gully. Next, with Pete leading the
way, the group climbed along the leeward side of the summit ridge. They
stopped briefly at a bend in the trail where Pete and Don had camped 14
years earlier! Several huge trees (not ohia or koa) and scattered loulu
lay below.

At approximately 1:05 the men encountered summit-like winds and,
even though they couldn't be certain because of view-blocking clouds,
thought they had reached the junction with the Koolau Summit Trail (KST).
Pummeled by fierce breezes, Pete and Don headed left there and the rest
followed. Dayle took a compass reading as the group made its way along the
ridge and told the others they were heading west. After a topo map
review, Gene said the correct direction along the KST to Waikane should be
north by northwest.

Hearing this, the group turned around and returned to where they had
mistakenly turned left. They then contoured for 5 to 10 minutes until
finding a rusty metal stake with two blue ribbons on it marking the
true junction with the KST, which headed left and down at that point.
Because of time constraints and clouds blocking the view, supposedly one
of the best in the Koolaus, the men did not make the short trip on a trail
to the right to the Kipapa summit, much to Pat's disappointment. According
to the topo map, the elevation at this point is 2,786 feet. In all, it
had taken nearly six hours to travel the six-mile Kipapa Trail.

And worse conditions lay ahead.

Laredo led the group as they left the rusty metal stake behind and
descended the KST toward Waikane. The time was 1:27. In 10 minutes or so,
they reached the stacked remains of a cabin. A grove of tall sugi pine
trees lay just below the trail to the left as they headed north toward
Waikane.

Dayle assumed the ramrod at this point. The human bulldozer made it very
easy for the others to move along the trail which was hard to find because
of incredible overgrowth. Everyone concluded that no one had used it for
years and Pat commented that this section of the KST is another on the
rapidly growing endangered-trails list.

The group lost the trail again but after searching around Laredo
rediscovered it. Even when on the right track progress was pathetically
slow. The men rotated into the ramrod slot as often as possible because
the person in front was paying a heavy toll in abuse and fatigue.
Every once in a while an open, incredibly windswept (30-40 mph at times on
this day) section was encountered and the men would shout out in glee at
the discovery. At one of these wind-whipped sections, a short tree near
the summit ridge looked like a hand flipping the bird!

But these freeway segments rarely lasted long and the norm was a
snail-like trudge through badly overgrown stretches of trail, almost
without exception to leeward, the more heavily vegetation-choked side.
Disorientation because of cloudy conditions and/or massive uluhe thickets
continued, so Dayle constantly checked his compass and Gene his topo map
to make sure the group was heading north (toward Waikane junction).

Gene did an exceptional job, pulling long stints in the ramrod slot and
helping the group make much needed progress. Although obviously fatigued,
he continued without complaint. While moving along a decent leeward
section, Dayle spotted a large black wild boar dash down the trail right
after Patrick walked by. It moved away quickly, and Patrick was bummed he
didn't get a chance to see it.

At Dayle's urging, Patrick relieved Gene at approx. 4:30. "Psycho" took
out his bolo knife and with a sense of urgency furiously cut through uluhe
and pushed the pace as much as he could. The group moved faster for a
stretch mainly because the trail opened up slightly (not a freeway but
better than usual). However, the trail once again became incredibly
overgrown and Pat lost it.

While the other men tried to find the trail without success, Laredo
ascended the summit ridge claiming that a groove (rut) he saw must be the
KST. Pat and Dayle looked at each other and mumbled, "The trail isn't
designed that way" (the KST, as a rule, almost exclusively contours along
the side of the ridge rather than moving along its top). Gene and Don
followed Laredo while Pat, Pete and Dayle waited for a report from them.
The three in front were advised to go left and descend after they made
significant progress along the summit ridge. They did so trying to pick up
the contour trail.

Pat and Pete followed them up the summit ridge but instead of going
left and down continued up the spine of the ridge to see what they could
find. Laredo, Gene and Don became frustrated and returned to the summit
ridge and met Dayle there. Pat and Pete waved to the group below to
ascend the windy, cloud-enshrouded ridgetop. When the group was reunited
they discussed strategy, including the possibility of spending the night
out since it was nearing 5:30.

Deciding to continue along the ridge top, the group moved on led by Dr.
Pete Caldwell. When they reached a point where the ridge split, the clouds
opened momentarily. Gene and Pete pleaded for the white stuff to blow away
long enough for the group to see the windward side to gage how much
further they had to go. No dice.

The men fanned out on the fairly broad, descending ridge looking for the
best way to proceed. Laredo continued along the right edge of the summit
ridge scrambling as he went. Pat, Dayle, and Pete were stationary, hoping
the clouds would part again revealing where the group was in relation to
Waikane Valley, Ohulehule, and other windward landmarks. Don, thinking he
discerned the KST ahead, descended along the ridge's left (leeward) side.

Soon after Pat, Dayle, and Pete followed him. There was much rejoicing
when the men reached a windswept section and found the KST again. Pat took
the ramrod and instructed Laredo, just above the trail, how to
get to it from his ridgetop position. Five minutes later, the group
encountered a detour in the trail which crossed a small gully. Patrick
recognized the area as part of the stretch he had explored on May 4, the
same day HTMC cleared Schofield Trail. A renewed hope of getting out
without having to stay overnight now existed.

Talk shifted to Pu'u Ka'aumakua (lit. "the family god"), the distinct
hilltop on the summit crest that marks the highest part of the Waikane
Trail. "That's gotta be it," said Pete to Dayle on several occasions when
he spotted a high hilltop ahead in the clouds. After several incorrect
calls, Ka'aumakua was finally reached, first by Patrick and Laredo, and
soon thereafter by the four others. A rusty metal stake marked the
junction of the KST and Waikane Trail. The group had covered the 2.2
rugged and excruciating miles from the top of Kipapa to the KST-Waikane
junction in five long, tiring hours!

At that point, the wind bellowed with great intensity. Since it was about
6:15 the men agreed to proceed the wind-tunnel half mile on the KST to
reach the more traversed Schofield Trail and descend it to Wahiawa since
it was in much better shape than Waikane, the original descent choice. For
some reason the men weren't up to the challenge of crossing landslides in
the dark!!!

Once again Pat took the lead followed by his shadow Laredo. When all of the
men arrived at the Schofield summit at about 6:35, they rested briefly.
The clouds lifted periodically and the group enjoyed the breathtaking
views of Waikane and Kahana Valleys below that they had been deprived of
all day. Dayle asked everyone to stay within sight of each other
especially when darkness set in since there were only four flashlights
among them. Pat seemingly agreed, saying, "Let's stay relatively close
together." However, Pat and Laredo had other ideas and had already
discussed a plan to go as fast and as far as possible during the remaining
daylight.

At 6:47 Pat and Laredo started down Schofield followed by Gene and the
others. Pat and Laredo moved very rapidly and were surprised that Gene was
able to keep up with them. Just before darkness set in Gene called out to
them to wait since he was alone and didn't have a flashlight but they
didn't hear him and continued their descent. When darkness made it too
difficult to hike without the aid of a flashlight Pat and Laredo decided
to stop for a rest. They enjoyed the city lights off in the distance as
they ate and drank.

Meanwhile, Pete, Don, and Dayle, moving at a slower pace, eventually
caught up with Gene, who continued hiking slowly for a considerable
distance in the dark without a light. Dayle and Pete commented about
Laredo and Pat's location. "`Relatively close' must mean a mile or two,"
joked Dayle.

The trailing group of four stopped on a couple occasions to rest, eat,
drink water, and at one point to call worried loved ones via cell phone.

Using Laredo's small flashlight, Pat and Laredo completed the
6-mile Schofield Trail by 9 p.m. Looking back Pat could see
the almost mahealani (full) moon, visible for a few moments in between
clouds above the Ko'olaus. The stars also appeared every once in a while.
As for the others, they were "relatively close" behind--75 minutes to be
precise. To pass the time, the two early arrivals lay down to sleep.

Just before 10 p.m. Pat woke up shivering and realized the others had
not reached the trailhead yet. He hoped they were alright as he stood up
and moved around to keep warm.

At 10:15 Dayle, Pete, Gene and Don reached the trailhead, Dayle teasing
Pat and Laredo about how "relatively close" they had stuck with the group.
After a 15-minute rest, the re-united gang of six moved together down the
2.5-mile dirt-gravel road that leads to the Army's East Range ranger
barracks and then to California Avenue.

Dayle's good friend and hiking buddy Bill Melemai was waiting with his
van at the end of California Avenue near the water tanks. For the
famished, thirsty, and tired sixsome, Bill had cold bottled water,
muffins, Jumbo Jacks and chicken sandwiches which they devoured without
delay. Dayle had cell-phoned Bill from the Schofield Trail a few hours
earlier and he was kind enough to meet them. Mahalo nui, Bill!

The ending time for the hike was 11:30 p.m., over 16 hours after the gang
of six had launched from the Kipapa trailhead. The ultimate day hike?
No doubt.